Hi this is Tutor Nick P and this is Quotes 207. It's another one by Stephen
King. And it's a very famous movie quote, and anytime you look up movie
quotes, this is one of the ones that's often repeated a lot. And here's the
quote. It's very simple. Get busy living or get busy dying. Okay. So let's look at
the note here. This quote by Stephen King came from the famous short story
and movie "The Shawshank Redemption. " I think Shawshank was the name of the prison. And...
All right. Let's continue. The quote was said by the character, Andy Dufresne played by
Tim Robbins. Yeah. If you've ever seen this movie, it was a very good movie. This
character, he ends up getting accused of killing his wife and the, the boyfriend
that she was cheating with. And he did actually I think he did actually
purchase a gun but he threw it away and he never killed. He never actually killed
them. Somebody else who robbed them killed them but he ended up getting blamed for
it and he ended up going to prison for it.
You know, anytime a wife dies you know the husband is always the number one
suspect, but in this case , in this story, he really didn't do it. And all right. So
let's go on. This quote is also repeated later by the character, Ellis Boyd Red
Redding. Both characters said this line when they were at a crossroads in life.
Yeah. The character , Red Redding that's played by Morgan Freeman who became a
good friend of Andy Dufresne. and when he said it , he was actually remembering
Andy Dufresne. All right. now, the character, Andy Dufresne, he was
at a point where I think it was it there was another prisoner who actually met the
prisoner, The, the guy that actually killed his wife and killed the boyfriend. And he
told him that story when he was in jail and he could've proved it. And the, the
warden of that prison got to like Andy Dufresne because he, he was an
accountant. And he did a lot of like cheating accounting things for him. And
he knew that he was too afraid to let him go. And he actually had it set up
that this guy who could have proved Andy Dufresne was actually innocent.
He set it up where he looked like he was escaping. So he could kill, so he'd
actually kill him because he didn't want Andy Dufresne to ever go free. And Andy
Dufresne realized he's never going to get out of here. That he's got to do this now.
He's got to try to escape which he kind of planned for a long time. And I don't
know if he really wanted you know maybe for the longest time he you know, he
didn't do it or he was you know, hoping that he would eventually get out somehow. (legally)
But here he realized, he's never going to get out. So he's at a crossroads. So he's
got to either try to escape or not escape. And he's actually talking to
Redding when he says this. He was depressed for this and he realized.
Look... He didn't actually tell him he was going to escape, but that's what
he says. Well, you got to get busy living, or get busy dying. It means you got to go
for it you got to try to escape and get out of here. He actually told him where
that if he ever got out where he would go and what he would do. And that's also
important in the story later. But let's continue. Now Redding was finally let out of jail.
So, so Andy Dufresne , of course he did escape. And that's a great movie
if you ever seen it. You know, he ends up going through the sewer pipe and he got
out and he kept all the evidence and he actually got the warden in trouble and
he ended up gettng all the warden's money. And he did escape to where he
wanted to go was some place in Mexico I think
Zihuatanejo. Where he just wanted to get a fishing boat. So he ended up doing this.
But it was at that crossroads when he was really trying to decide that he
actually said this. Now later in the movie, Redding, the character, he finally
gets out of jail. They finally let him out. He's also an older man, after many
decades even though he got his freedom, he was reduced to a menial job of
packing groceries at a supermarket. One of the few options, for an ex-convict.
Because they couldn't get many jobs. You know, after being in jail for so long.
Life had become boring and meaningless to him, after he got out of jail. In fact he had
more power and significance as the go-to guy, you know when he was in jail. When he
was in jail a lot of people you know he was important in the jail. A lot of
people always went to him , because he had a lot of connections. He was able to get
stuff from outside the jail in. And, and he also had it was there with a lot of
other convicts. And you know, he, he had some even though, he's in prison he had
some significance. But now that he's out, he feels even less powerful, and he feels
that you know life is meaningless. So he's also suddenly at kind of a
crossroads. Now also there's another point that's important. Just before
Redding was released. There was another character called Brooks. You know he was
the guy that was in charge of like a lot of the books. And he finally got let out
also after many decades. Who got released after many decades. Brooks had
the same job, and lived in the same room as Redding got later. Okay So, so Redding found
himself in exactly the same position as this guy. Brooks also felt like life was
boring and meaningless after he got out. Too much had changed while he was in
jail. So he just felt like a feeble old man now. But in jail , he had some
importance he was he was the guy that was in charge of the books and you know,
you know at that area that all the convicts depended on basically. And he
and when he was out he was also afraid most of the time because he's just an
older guy now and you know oh well like over 30 years a lot of technology had passed by.
It was almost like another world to him. Unfortunately, he decided to commit
suicide. So at this point Redding is in the exact same position. He's also at a
crossroads in his life and he's deciding what he's going to do. And in the
meantime I think Dufresne left him a hint of like where to go and he left a
box with a lot of money. So he's either thinking of breaking his parole and
leaving taking a risk. Just like Dufresne took the risk to
get out of prison. Or just you know, almost like doing what Brooks did. Maybe,
maybe commit suicide. Life is too boring you know, so that's, that's, that's
the point. That's important here. All right. So this quote is basically telling us
all, when we come upon a similar crossroads in life, to get busy living.
Strive do whatever it takes to reach that goal and get the most out of life
basically. Don't just waste away your days in pain and regret. That's basically
what he was saying. If you can't take it anymore and you're almost thinking you
know life is too boring or or possibly thinking about suicide. Don't do it. So...
regret. So don't take the .... Yeah. And don't take the drastic step basically.
Yeah. it's a pain regret. And definitely don't take the drastic step of suicide.
Yeah. So either get busy living or get busy dying. That's basically what he's
saying. Again it's a famous, it's a famous quote. It was a great movie if you've
never seen it. I recommend it even though. even though, it's an old movie. It's
still quite good. I'm sure you can find it on cable or YouTube or something like
that. anyway I hope you got it I hope you
enjoyed it. Thank you for your time. Bye- bye.